Survival strategy of silicate-utilizing Bacillus species in activated sludge and the related excess sludge reduction

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660061
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Takeshi 広島大学, 先端物質科学研究科, 助教 (10505754)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 細菌 / 胞子 / 活性汚泥

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Bacillus cereus and its close relatives take up soluble silicate (Si[OH]4) from the environment and accumulate it as insoluble silica (SiO2) in and around a spore coat layer. We hypothesized that silica deposition in Bacillus spores plays an important role in silicate-induced dominance of Bacillus species in activated sludge. Since some wastewater treatment plants use hypochlorite in addition to silicate to facilitate the predominance of Bacillus species, we investigated the mechanism underlying this and found that silica deposition enhances spore resistance to hypochlorite.

Free Research Field

生物工学